Anaerobic membrane bioreactors for resource recovery from municipal wastewater: a comprehensive review of recent advances

Abstract

In a paradigm shift towards a sustainable society based on the Circular Economy, wastewater treatments are rapidly evolving towards simultaneous recovery and reuse of clean water, renewable energy, and nutrients. This review examines recent advances (from 2016 to 2020) in the potential of anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBRs) to serve as the core technology for municipal wastewater (MWW) resource recovery, focusing on the latest technological advances and economic and environmental innovation perspectives. The potentials and limitations of AnMBR for further full-scale application and new platforms to address these challenges are discussed, covering systems based on co-digestion, pre-concentration of particulate organics, removal, concentration and recovery of inorganic nutrients (photosynthesis, membranes and ion exchange) and hybrid systems for enhanced energy recovery. Overall, this review provides important insights into overcoming the challenges that hinder the application of AnMBR to MWW resource recovery from the technical, environmental and economic points of view.